Roar of Victory
by setsulko
Summary: Koganei Shinji- jealous, confused, upset, happy, and sitting in pure admiration all at once. And all because of one basketball superstar named Kagami Taiga.
1. Chapter 1

It had always been tough for Koganei. Maybe it was his own fault- he didn't study enough, so he was always failing and struggling in schoolwork. He never practiced his basketball outside club hours, so maybe that's why he didn't improve as quickly as others. He was a klutz, slow at times, unpopular with girls and sometimes even laughed at by his classmates. His best friend Mitobe always shone through for him though. They supported each other and when they were together they were invincible. They were the best of bros. But nobody took notice of their friendship. Nobody cared after Kagami and Kuroko enrolled as first years. Obviously they were the real invincible duo. The famous "light and shadow". Kagami's basketball already surpassed Koganei and Mitobe, and when Kuroko was counted in; the two were the best players on the team. And Koganei was jealous. He sat grumpily on the sidelines, watching a practice match go on with two halves of the Seirin team. The first years (other than Kuroko and Kagami) had sat out, but the numbers were still uneven so Koganei was sat out as well. He'd been there so much longer, why did he have to sit out? He let out a "hmph" and watched the match, frowning. A few gasps came from the court. Koganei scoffed and looked away. Kuroko had done another amazing move, and now Kagami was on the receiving end- there we go, another slam dunk.

Koganei couldn't help watching the slam dunk, though. As annoyed as he was to be outdone by his junior, he liked the way Kagami looked when he played. He was strong and determined. Even his mistakes were better than Koganei's because Kagami always made up for them. Koganei just helped widen the gap. He let out a smile, though, at the younger man's roar of victory. But then he began to frown again when Kuroko came out of nowhere and the two fist-bumped.

_God, why can't I have respect like that? _He thought. _When the heck is Kagami going to fist bump me..? _

His thought cut off when he saw the grin of victory beaming right at him from the other side of the court. There was a childish air about Kagami, as if he were saying _did you see that!? Did you see what I just did? _Koganei chuckled and stood up, clapping with the other first years who had already done so. Riko's whistle blew, and the practice match was over._ Finally_, Koganei thought. _Now I can get home_. He turned quickly, snatched up his bag (not bothering to change from his Seirin shirt), gave Mitobe a quick high five responded to with a smile and dashed out of the gym before the devil coach could impose any new training regimes. But he left so fast that he didn't see Kagami headed his way.

* * *

It was just beginning to get dark when Koganei started on his way home. The summer air kept the temperature warm, so his walk home was rather pleasant. He found himself thinking about Kagami's grin of victory maybe a little too often, and shook his head to try and think about the paper he was supposed to be handing in for English class. He cringed and frowned (but still wore his foolish smile) as he thought about it. He was just beginning to recite a few sentences of English in his head when he heard a stuttered-"No, p-please. I asked you t-to leave me alone" and "Come on, baby? We're not trying to hurt you or anything."

Up ahead was a typical thug on girl scene. Two guys stood around a short timid light haired girl who had her back to the wall and clung onto her schoolbag with tears brimming in her eyes. Koganei recognised the uniform. She was from Seirin- probably a first year. Like hell he was going to stand for this! Koganei was a fairly fast runner, so maybe his basketball skills would serve well here.

"Hey!" he choked and made an awkward sound. Great.

"What do you want, kid?" one of the larger and more menacing thugs asked. He wore a stupid beanie and low hanging pants. He may have had a few piercings too. One thing was sure- he smelled like alcohol.

"I, er. You have to leave her alone, because, uh. She wants you to!" he squeaked again. Koganei was not impressive.

"We're not tryin' to hurt her. This aint your business."

They were right; this wasn't Koganei's business, but he was a responsible upperclassman! No good person could just walk past a scene like this.

"I think it's for the best that you go." Said the second one, smaller than the first but still burly in comparison to the thin Koganei. He dressed almost identical to the first thug, but his hair was a greasy mop. The first now turned to Koganei, cracking his knuckles. (They were really typical thugs.)

Koganei could barely muster a no before a huge arm came swinging over his head. He ducked quickly and dashed around behind the first thug, now in between the two with the girl.

"Running?!"

Yes, obviously. Koganei grabbed the girls hand and pulled her down under the second huge arm that came crashing down near them. She let out a scream, but Koganei made sure to shield her. Neither had been hit yet- he thought he was doing pretty well. It wasn't till he was kicked hard in the gut that he realised he'd messed up. He gave the girl a quick shove and she stumbled out of the way of the two men, now kicking hard into Koganei as he fell to the hard concrete.

"GO ALREADY!" He spat out at the girl- and she did as he commanded. She sprinted as fast as she could. Koganei did well. He got her out of harm's way. But now he was the one who was stuck. They beat him senseless for a solid 5 minutes, swearing at him, bruising him and giving him a strong black eye. Thug #1 told Koganei to cry, but he didn't. Thug #2 spat on him as they shoved him against a wall. And then he was on the ground and they were gone. Now he cried. The last thing he heard before he blacked out was a strong and familiar yell.


	2. Chapter 2

Mitobe and Koganei were sitting in a tatami room under a heated table. Koganei stared very intensely at the other, but his head was turned and he was happily watching TV. Neither of the two spoke. Koganei continued to stare, but Mitobe just kept quietly chuckling at the television. He was watching grade school anime (as he always did). Then the credits rolled and Mitobe stopped smiling. He turned to Koganei, who was still staring very intensely, and opened his mouth to speak. Excitement rose through Koganei. The boy himself hadn't even heard Mitobe's voice. But instead of words came a sound like a cartoon "BOING", and Koganei woke up.

He was lying in a futon on the floor of an unfamiliar tatami room, and from the television on the other side of the room he heard canned laughter and childish sound effects. He turned his head and awoke the oncoming ache. Sitting up quickly and grabbing his head didn't help him, either, but he managed to look over at the TV. It was the same grade school anime that Mitobe liked to watch. Ah- he must be in Mitobe's house, then! Koganei smiled shakily, lied back down and snuggled into the blanket he'd had tossed over him. This was probably the spare room in Mitobe's house, and that's why he didn't recognise it. Minutes passed though, and Mitobe didn't come back. Koganei wondered if he should get up to go find him- but the idea of his head spinning wasn't at all pleasant. He reached his hand out from underneath the blanket and scratched the rough tatami with his nails.

Listening to the scratchy noises and flexing his hand occupied him for longer than it would anyone else, but he was distracted from it when an aroma filled the room. Man, was that..._ mm... Pork ramen… the same flavour mom buys me… no-it's fresher… Mitobe is a good cook, ehehe. _The metal blood taste in his mouth was now becoming very dissatisfying as he smelled the delicious concoction. Footsteps came to the door, and Koganei quickly pulled his hand back under the futon and shut his eyes, for whatever reason. The door opened, filling the room with an even stronger smell of deliciously fresh pork ramen. Koganei may have drooled just a little bit. He heard two bowls hit the heated table behind his head, and the crack of chopsticks. The TV volume was lowered, the smell was strong and Koganei couldn't stand it anymore. He sat right up, allowing his head to spin and shot around at Mitobe.

"You saved me, Mitobe-!"

"Huh?"

"What?"

"I'm not Mitobe, dumbass."

Now that his head stopped spinning, the silhouette of Mitobe had mysteriously transformed into Kagami Taiga. The strong willed super cool underclassman who outranked Koganei in basketball. The guy he looked up to. Koganei just stared at the other (whose cheeks were stuffed with food). For some absolutely retarded reason, the first thought that came to Koganei's head was _I SNUGGLED INTO THIS GUY'S BLANKETS!?_

Kagami chuckled and raised an eyebrow at the obviously confused Koganei.

"Eat up man."

"Wait, am I in your house Kagami?!"

"Of course. I mean, why else would I be here? I don't know where you live, so..." Kagami mumbled and tucked back into his bowl of ramen.

Koganei looked at the other bowl of ramen on the table, steam escaping from beneath the lid placed on top.

"My mom-"

"I tekshted her wif your phowne and said djou were shaying at a friend'sh houshe." He struggled to swallow his food. Koganei just rubbed his forehead. He could feel his eye aching- it must have been swollen and bruised. He probably looked so pathetic, lying on the concrete bruised and battered and covered in tears. Ugh, how embarrassing. He cringed at this, and just began eating his ramen. It was very good and very warm. It washed the stale metal taste right away. The two sat there quietly eating for a while, and quiet television noises were the only thing besides their slurps that dare make a sound.

Koganei glanced at Kagami much too often, but Kagami was fixated on his soup. He tilted the bowl and drank it all down in one gulp and a plate of rice balls came up onto the table as well. He ate three of those and left one for Koganei, but still didn't look at him. It was as if he was trying too hard not to.

"What the hell happened?" he said, out of absolutely nowhere.

"Eh, uh, there was a girl-"

"Did you seriously get in a fight to impress a girl?"

"No! Don't interrupt me! These two guys were bothering her, and I couldn't just leave her there."

"Two against one."

"Would you have left her?" Koganei frowned at the other. He was convinced- even though he was hurt- that he did a good thing and he was not at all foolish.

Kagami turned his head to the side and groaned a bit. "No, I wouldn't."

_Exactly,_ Koganei thought.

"I'd better get going now, anyway. A text like that might just worry my old lady." He chuckled. For a moment, he thought Kagami looked worried.

"Yeah, man. Seeya."

Koganei was guided to the front door by Kagami, and he headed out. His reflection showed in the window as he walked off. His eye terribly was bruised and swollen. How on earth was he going to hide this from his mom?


	3. Chapter 3

It was fairly difficult to bypass questioning the next day at school when the entire basketball team converged on Koganei. Mitobe looked worried; Riko was outraged (at both the thugs and Koganei for fighting so foolishly), Hyuga clapped his shoulder and said he was proud, and the rest kind of just made jokes about it all. (Especially Izuki). On the way to basketball club in the afternoon, he ran into the girl from last night. She was waiting eagerly for him outside the gym, clinging to her bag like yesterday. When he approached, she jumped.

"A-ah, senpai! You, uhm, T-thank you for last night!" she bowed deeply, almost dropping her schoolbag. Her eyes brimmed with tears already, but before Koganei could even wave his hands and say "it's okay!" she was up again, talking even faster. "I-I asked everyone in my class until someone could help me f-find you, and I- I couldn't just run away, t-thank you, but oh my god, you're really hurt, I-I'm so sorry!" She bowed again, now sobbing. Koganei had no idea what to do. A few people who were passing by had even slowed to look at the commotion this girl was making.

"Uh, hey! It's okay! You should see the other guy" he chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. She raised her head and looked at him with teary eyes, but smiled wide.

"I'm glad you're ok, senpai…"

Koganei was starting to blush. No girl ever treated him like this. He was so uncool.

"It's not a problem, uh, if you ever need my help with anything, just ask!" He grinned and gave her thumbs up. She was about to speak again, but the gym door behind her swung open fast and made her jump a few steps towards Koganei. "S-sorry!"

"Oi, Koganei. We're starting in here." Kagami's head poked through the door, and he looked down at the girl with a raised eyebrow.

She squeaked in fear at the huge man, let out a sob, turned, and ran. Koganei's one chance at a girlfriend, running far into the distance…

He sighed, shot Kagami an almost-glare, and headed inside.

Although Kagami was right about their practice match starting, Koganei wasn't even included in it. He sat down grumbling.

"Sorry, Koganei. Just let your injuries heal up first" mumbled Riko as she strolled past, clearly deep in thought about whatever was on her clipboard.

Like the day before, all Koganei could do was sit and watch Kagami play in attempts of putting himself in a better mood. Though it changed his mood, not much can be said for improving it. Before he was grumpy, and now he just felt confused, and even a little bit sad.

_This guy, why did he help me out? He cooked me dinner and gave me a bed and everything. He could have just splashed water on my face. I mean, I wouldn't want that, but… is he really a kind guy after all? _

Kagami made a dunk.

_Who goes to the trouble of cooking someone else dinner like that? Surely he could have just used my phone to call my mom and have her or a doctor sort it out. Why then…Well, I don't think I really would have liked that outcome either. _

Another dunk. High fives reigned over the court.

_No, I'm glad. He saved me and took care of me. God, not that I need saving. _(An internal battle was ensuing). _Jeeze, that service though. I could get used to that. Maybe I should go live with Kagami. Ugh… now I want ramen..._

Then came the roar of victory. The practice match was already over.

_I wonder if Kagami can make takoyaki?_

"YEEAAAHHH!" Kagami shouted. It echoed through the gym; the seniors were beat in yet another practice match. Koganei's mood was starting to improve, seeing Kagami so enthusiastic again. When-

"You can go home you know, Koganei. You don't need to be here." Riko said, grinning over at the court. Maybe she didn't realise it had hurt Koganei, because she didn't turn her head to him.

Time to go. You don't need to be here, Koganei. So he sighed, picked up his bag and took another glance at Kagami. The first years had piled on him, but Kagami was looking around, a grin still on his face. He saw Koganei leave the room, and the smile dropped.

* * *

Walking home alone again. He still hadn't started on that damn English paper. How could he with all the stuff that went on last night? It was a plausible excuse, he thought. A sudden burst of confidence shot through him and he repeated in his head "I'll get it all done tonight!" Five minutes later that inspiration had died and he was back to walking home quietly in the warm air. Cicadas were chirping somewhere nearby, and their song made him grin to himself. The annoying screech was loud and obnoxious, but it wouldn't be summer if they weren't around. Koganei liked them. He was distracted, eyes shut, thinking about cicadas when he bumped into somebodies side.

"Ah- sorry, sorry!" he froze.

It was the thugs. He was at the same place as last night, and they'd come back. He was bruised and achy all over but they still weren't done with him. Suddenly, his head began to hurt again. He was scared. He showed his confidence in front of that girl, but now he was their target. He didn't want to black out on the side of the road again. What if nobody saved him this time? He was about ready to accept his fate, when he heard it. The roar of victory.

Koganei's eyes widened and he whipped his head around to look, but by the time he had done so, a thick arm had already flown straight past his head and collided into the thugs face. It was Kagami, raring and ready to go, intensity boiling out the top of him. He'd followed Koganei; he'd come to protect him. Koganei got out of his way, but soon tried to run back in and fight. "NO, Koganei. I've got these assholes!" roared the tall redhead.

Kagami tore through the thugs with blazing fists, yelling at them to "STAY AWAY FROM MY TEAMMATE", and they obliged. They pissed off like dogs with their tails between their legs.

It was quiet for a moment except for Kagami's heavy breathing. His fist was shaking. In fact- a lot of him was trembling. Koganei slowly crept up to him, and touched the others fist. Kagami replied with a flinch, but eased up. His knuckles were red, grazed and bruised. He'd punched hard. Koganei was still holding on to Kagami's hand. Kagami opened his mouth.

"Let's go to Magi-burger."

* * *

They walked in silence to Magi burger. Silence seemed to be a recurring thing between the two lately. Koganei had since let go of Kagami's hand, and had them shoved inside his pockets instead. His head was too busy swimming with thoughts of Kagami to actually speak to the guy.

_He was supposed to be at practice with Kuroko. He always practices after club with Kuroko. Why take me to Magi-burger, anyway? That's where those two always meet up. Why save me… why was he there? Did he- he must have. He followed me. What the hell, Kagami. I'm not a damsel in distress! I'm not even a damsel._

"You right?"

Koganei blinked. He was wearing a nasty pout on his face.

"Uh, yeah."

_The hell!? Now he's watching my facial expressions? Why? You're not supposed to pay attention to me. _

Kagami kicked a rock and watched it skid across the ground.

Soon they had arrived at Magi burger. Koganei took the role of Kuroko and found them seats while Kagami ordered. 30 cheeseburgers and a cola for himself, and a chicken burger and fries for Koganei. People stared in amazement at Kagami (as always) as he took his seat.

"Jesus, you're impressive in everything." Koganei stared at the pile of food. Kagami smirked and grinned.

They ate, exchanging looks at some points, but once again it was silent. This time, Koganei was the first to speak up.

"So, you uh, followed me, right?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Kagami took a big bite from his 15th burger.

"I just care."

"I mean, I care about my friends too, but-"

"I care a lot."


End file.
